NCSOFT recorded its first annual loss in 26 years since its establishment in 1998, due to declining revenue from the 'Lineage' mobile game and poor performance of new titles.
On the 11th, NCSOFT reported through its disclosure that its consolidated annual revenue was 1.5781 trillion won, a decrease of 11.3% compared to the previous year. The operating loss was 109.2 billion won, marking a shift from an operating profit of 137.3 billion won last year, and the net profit also fell by 56% to 94.1 billion won.
In particular, the operating loss for the fourth quarter was 129.5 billion won, significantly exceeding the market expectation of 95.8 billion won. During the same period, revenue was 409.4 billion won, while the net loss was 7.6 billion won. Earlier, in the third quarter, it also recorded an operating loss of 14.3 billion won, leading to a quarterly loss for the first time in 12 years.
The industry analyzes that the decrease in revenue from the 'Lineage' mobile game series and the poor performance of new titles were the main causes of the deteriorating financial results. In response, NCSOFT established six subsidiaries by separating its new title development organization and the artificial intelligence (AI), quality assurance (QA), and system integration (SI) institutional sectors, and conducted a massive organizational restructuring, including offering voluntary retirement.
NCSOFT plans to unveil specific financial conditions and rebound strategies through a performance announcement on the morning of the 12th.
Meanwhile, NCSOFT announced a medium- to long-term shareholder return policy that includes cash dividends and stock buybacks over the next three years until 2027. It plans to distribute 30% of its consolidated net profit as cash dividends and to repurchase approximately 410,000 shares, which corresponds to about 1.9% of the total number of issued shares during the 2025 fiscal year.
This year, it will distribute total cash dividends of 28.3 billion won at 1,460 won per common share (with a market dividend rate of 0.8%), with the dividend 기준일 on March 24 and the payment date scheduled for April 25.